Curtain-fixture.



PATENTBD SEPT. 29., 1903.

J. A. LYONS. CURTAIN FIXTURE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 10, 1902.

no MODEL.

1142 "cums PcYzRs :71. mu'mo. wuumamu. n. c.

' improvement.

TWO. 739,88.

UNITED STATES iatented September 29, 1903.

JAMES A. LYONS, OF FOUNTAIN orrY, TENNESSEE.

CURTAIN-FIXTURE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 739,888, dated September 29, 1903. 7

Application filed March 10, 1902. Serial No. 97,485- (No model-l I To all whom it may concerma Be it known that 1, JAMES A. LYONS, a citi- Zen of the United States, residingat Fountain City, in the county of Knox and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Curtain-Fixtures, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to curtain-fixtures, and particularly to that class of window-curtain fixtures in which provision is made for the vertical adjustment of a horizontal springroller upon which the curtain or shade is rolled, the object being to secure light and ventilation from above the curtain when desired.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a fixture embodying my Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the construction shown in Fig. 1. Figs. 3, 4:,

and 5 are detail Views of the mechanism for securing the curtain-support (comprising the yoke and lower roller) at its uppermost position. Fig. 6 is a detail view of one of the brackets attached to said yoke.

Referring to said drawings, 1 is the curtain, and 2 is the spring-roller upon which said curtain rolls. p nalattached to the right-hand end of said roller. Said journal rotates in the bracket 4, which has a foot 5, suitably secured to the yoke-bar 6. Said yoke-baris a little longer than said roller and-is arranged parallel to and above the latter. At its opposite end said roller has the usual flattened shaft 7, which extends into and is held against rotation by the usual slotted bracket 8, Said bracket is suitably secured to said yoke-bar,

as .by a sleeve 9, extending from the foot 9 of said bracket. From near each end of said yoke-bar a band or strap 10 rises to a roller 11. Said roller is also of theordinary springactuated form and is supported in stationary brackets 12 and 13. Said bands are attached to said roller 11 in proper manner to permit them to be rolled or unrolled when the yokebar is raised or lowered, just as a curtain is rolled or unrolled on the ordinary spring-actuated roller. As the construction of such rollers is Well known, I deem it unnecessary to describe the same in detail.

3 isthe usual fixed jour- I have designed a novel form of bracket specially adapted for joining the yoke-bar and the roller 2. The brackets 4 and 9 are identical, excepting that the one is a right and the other a left and the one has a circular bearing, while the other has a slotted hearing. The drawings show the foot 5 of the bracket 4 folded to form a sleeve 5 to surround the yoke-bar at or near the right-hand end of the latter, and the foot 9 of the bracket 8 is similarly folded to form a sleeve 9 to surround the yoke-bar at or near the lefthand end of the latter. Both said brackets at and 8 may be stamped out of sheet metal, each bracket being formed from a blank having the same outline as the other. This construction of said bracket out of single pieces of sheet metal is adapted to rapid and economical manufacture. Obviously these brackets may be otherwise formed, as by casting. The fixture thus described, consisting of the curtain l, the roller 2, the yokebar, and the brackets connecting said roller and bar, the bands, and the upper roller, constitutes a structure which is complete and operative in itself; but I have embodied with my fixture a latch mechanism for positively holding the roller 2 at its uppermost position after having been elevated to such position by the action of the spring in'the roller 11. The object of said'mechanism is to avoid the necessity for placing the spring in the upper roller under the great and dangerous tension which would otherwise be required. When my said mechanism is 7 used, the tension of the spring in the roller 11 need be only suffioient to lift the lower roller and yoke-bar to the upper limit. It is obvious that this can be accomplished by a tension of said spring insufficient to resist.

of spring-wire attached to the bracket 13 in the most simple manner. Said latch is designated by the number 16. formed by folding a piece of spring-Wire upon itself, so as to form a hook 17, and form the two ends for suitable hinged attachment at 14 and 15, as shown in Fig. 2. The Wire of which the latch is made is bent into form, as shown, with an eye 14 at one end of the wire. Through the eye a rivet 14: passes and is secured to said bracket. By means of said rivet said latch is so held as to permit the rotation in a plane parallel to said bracket and as to prevent lateral movement out of said plane. The other end of said Wire of which said latch is made is bent at right angles and passes through the aperture 14 in the bracket. By properly shaping said wire the hook of the latch will normally stand in the path traversed by the yoke-bar. When said yoke-bar rises in response to the action of the roller 11, said yoke-bar or the sleeve 5 comes into contact with the sloping lower portion of said hook 17and pushes the latter aside until said bar has passed said hook. Then the latter automatically passes beneath said bar and preventsthe descent of the latteruntil said latch has again been moved forward out of the path of said bar. Mechanism for moving said latch out of engagement with said bar is applied to the bracket 8, which supports the adjacent end of the roller 2. Said mechanism consists of a tilting lever 18, pivotally secured to the bracket 8 at 19. The upper end of said lever extends so nearly to the yoke-bar as to be behind the hook 17 when the latter engages said bar. It is obvious that the tilting of said leverso as to cause said end to bear against said hook will cause the latter to move forward out of engagement with said bar. Said lever may be made in any suitable manner; but I prefer to make it of such form as to permitstampingitoutofsheet metal. Suchform is illustrated by the drawings. Said lever has a central fiat portion 21, which lies flatwise against the bracket 8 and is pivotally secured to said bracket at 19 by anysuitable means, as by a short rivet 22. The portion 23 of said lever nearest the base of said bracket 8 is bent laterally, so as to be substantially parallel to the foot 9 of said bracket. Said portion 23 may be called the foot of said lever. Said foot is preferably widened sufiiciently to allow it to remain beneath said hook 17, although the yoke-bar 6 may have moved more orless horizontally. The width of said foot may be seen in Fig. 3. A cord 2-1 is suitably attached to said lever at the side of said pivot 19 opposite said foot. The drawings show a portion of the metal of said lever bent laterally to form a bracket 25 for the attachment of said cord in any suitable manner. To aid said rivet 22 in holding said lever in position against the bracket 8, a tongue 26 may be extended from the body21 It is preferably of said lever upward and around the upper edge of said bracket, the portion of said tongue which is at the left-hand side of said bracket serving to keep said lever from turning toward the right awayfrom said bracket. Said tongue may be so set as to bearagainst the upper edge of said bracket 8 when said lever has tilted as far as is desired.

The lower roller, brackets, and yoke-bar together constitute the curtain-support,and said supportis vertically shiftable. The yoke-bar constitutes a relatively fixed member carrying the brackets for said roller.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a curtain-fixture, the combination with a shiftable curtain-support and mechanism for shifting said support to different elevations, of latch mechanism adapted to make engagement when said support is at its upper limit, and latch-releasing mechanism applied to said curtain-support, substantially as described.

2. In a curtain-fixture, the combination with a stationary, spring-actuated roller and a shiftable curtain-support suspended from said stationary roller, of a latch mechanism located adjacent to said stationary roller and latch-releasing mechanism applied to said curtain-support, substantially as described.

3. In a curtain-fixture, the combination with a stationary, spring-actuated roller and a shiftable curtain-support suspended from said stationary roller, of a latch mechanism applied to one of the brackets of the stationary roller and adapted to engage said shiftable curtain-support when the latter is at its upper limit, and latch-releasing mechanism combined with said curtain-support, substantially as described.

4. In a curtain-fixture, the combination with a stationary, spring-actuated roller, bands, yoke, brackets and shiftable roller, of a latch applied adjacent to one end of said stationary roller in proper position to engage said yoke when the latter reaches its upper limit, and latch-releasing mechanism applied to one of said brackets, substantially as described.

5. In a curtain-fixture, the combination with a stationary, spring-actuated roller, brackets supporting said roller, bands, and a shiftable curtain-support, of a latch applied to one of said brackets and extending into the path of said curtain-support, and a latch-releasing mechanism applied to said curtainsupport, substantially as described.

6. In a curtain-fixture, the combination with a stationary, spring-actuated roller,latch mechanism located adjacent to said roller, a curtain-support comprising a yoke, brackets, and roller, and bands joining said curtainsupport to said stationary roller, of a latchreleasing device secured to one of the brackets of said curtain-support, substantially as described.

7. In a curtain fixture, the combination of a shiftable yoke-bar, a roller, and sheetmetal brackets, each of the latter comprising a substantially fiatfoot parallel to the plane of the curtain, and an integral sleeve surrounding said yoke-bar, said. sleeve being a direct continuation of the sheet of metal which forms the foot, and said sleeve being longer than the horizontal width of the foot.

In testimony whereof I have signed my I name, in presence 'of two witnesses, this 6th 10 day of March, in the year 1902.

JAMES A. LYONS.

I Witnesses:

CYRUS KEHR, R. F. CROSS. 

